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Hinteregger Jurgen, the Austrian national deported from Malawi for being racist, has now fled Kenya after being grilled by detectives over accusations of racial abuse. Strabag International, the German company Jurgen worked for in Kenya until he took flight, confirmed that indeed the suspect has left for his home country.
Before coming to Kenya, Jurgen, 47, was in March 2017 deported from Malawi over similar accusations. In Malawi, Jurgen is said to have referred to a driver by named Mr Charles Devina as a “monkey”, an incident which led to his deportation.
In Kenya, Jurgen is accused of racist abuse not just of verbal nature, but also of physical nature. Jurgen was in Kenya overseeing the construction of a Sh 20 billion Mwea Thiba Dam in Kirinyaga County. He arrived in Kenya in March 2018. It remains unclear how he arrived in the country to oversee the construction of the dam.
Jurgen was on Saturday grilled by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over accusations of mistreating and even physically abusing employers of Strabag International. The employees had initially raised concerns that Jurgen was planning to flee the country. Police have said that they will seek the intervention of Interpol to ensure that Jurgen is brought to book. Kirinyaga police boss Anthony Wanjuu has also said the company will be held responsible for the incident.
“The company was informed that the supervisor was required at the police station for further interrogation but did not heed to our instructions. Stern action may be taken against the company’s management,” Mr Wanjuu told Nairobi News on Monday evening.
Jurgen's case is just the latest example of white people coming to Africa and inflicting racial abuse on Africans. It also begs the question of how lax African immigration laws are on these white people, given that Jurgen was already deported from one African country for being racist. Furthermore, Asians, specifically Chinese, Indians, and Arabs, in Africa, have been noted to racially abuse Africans. This opens up the conversation about racism in Africa, a conversation that many have avoided for decades.
Header Image Credit: Daily Nation
